The TVR Speed Eight is a naturally-aspirated V8 car engine designed by TVR and manufactured from 1996 to 2003. The engine was intended to power the

TVR Griffith The TVR Griffith, later models being referred to as the Griffith 500, is a sports car designed and built by TVR, starting production in 1990, and ending production in 2002. The Griffith name appeared again on a sports car introduced under a re ...

and the

TVR Chimaera The TVR Chimaera is a two-seater roadster sports car manufactured by TVR between 1992 and 2003. The name was derived from Chimera, the monstrous creature of Greek mythology, which was made of the parts of multiple animals. First debuted at ...

, but delays in its production meant that it powered only the

TVR Cerbera The TVR Cerbera is a grand touring hardtop sports car manufactured by British automobile manufacturer TVR between 1996 and 2006. The name is derived from Cerberus, the three-headed beast of Greek legend that guarded the entrance of Hades. I ...

and the

TVR Tuscan Challenge The TVR Tuscan Challenge is a one-make series dedicated to the second incarnation of the TVR Tuscan sports car (Initially developed as a road car and then built for the race series), and takes place throughout the United Kingdom. Inaugurated ...

. It was first engine offered by TVR that was both designed and built in-house. The reason behind the engine's development and production was that

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

was bought by BMW in 1994, and Peter Wheeler, the owner of TVR at the time, feared that BMW would drop the

Rover V8 The Rover V8 engine is a compact V8 internal combustion engine with aluminium cylinder block and cylinder heads, originally designed by General Motors and later re-designed and produced by Rover in the United Kingdom. It has been used in a wide ...

engine used in TVRs since the early 80's. Wheeler contracted

Al Melling Alwyn "Al" Melling is a British automobile engineer. Fashion design At the beginning of the 1980s he was involved in the fashion industry, and owned a company in London throughout the 1980s which designed ladies' fashion garments. As owner he ...

to design a brand-new V8 engine to power the

that TVR could also sell to other car manufacturers. TVR ceased manufacturing the design when the Cerbera was discontinued in 2003. The engine was designed by Melling, along with John Ravenscroft and Peter Wheeler. Its production code-name was "AJP8" (A=Al, J=John, P=Peter); this naming convention was subsequently used for the Speed Six engine's "AJP6" code-name. The Speed Eight featured many aspects found in a racing engine, such as a flat plane crankshaft, a 75-degree angle between the cylinder banks, a SOHC arrangement operating two valves per cylinder, and sequential fuel injection. Two versions of the Speed Eight engine were offered by TVR, one displacing 4.2L and producing , and the other displacing 4.5L and producing . A Red Rose conversion was made available that increased output to when using fuel with a minimum octane rating of 97 RON. The Red Rose upgrade included reshaped intake and exhaust ports, higher compression, and an ECU that can be switched between two sets of fueling and ignition maps (for 95 RON and 97 RON fuel, respectively). The Speed Eight engine had a high specific output for a normally aspirated engine at the time, with 83.3 bhp/L for the 4.2L, 93.3 bhp/L for the 4.5L, and 97.7 bhp/L for the Red Rose-specification 4.5L engine. Another notable aspect is the weight of the engine, which is dry.

References

{{reflist TVR engines V8 engines